Means adapted for drying jewelry, &amp;c.



. W. HUTCHINS.

MEANS ADAPTED FOR DRYING JEWELRY, Gao.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1909.

Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

' MTA/E55 E5:

,.s. Rn am Tm EE V.

sata

'r rre.

ARTHUR W. HT/ITCHINS, OF CRANSTGN, RHODE ISLAND.

MEANS ADAPTED FOR DRYING JEWELRY, &c.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application mea may 5, 1909. serial No. 494,01"

proved basket or container adapted t0 be disposed with respect to an air-blast which acts upon the basket and causes the latter to rotate rapidly thereby quickly drying offA the surfaces of the wet or washed articles on work, as articles of jewelry, contained in the basket, all as more fully hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the usual way of drying-off finished and unfinished jewelry, &c., the articles are placed in heated sawdust, the result being to absorb the moisture from them. Such former method consumes a comparatively long time, several minutes at least, and frequently leaves the surfaces of the articles in a stained or discolored condition, together with the shown in central vertical. section. Fig. 2 is.

a corresponding top plan view of the basket, the nozzle being omitted. Fig. 3 is a crosssection, in enlarged scale, taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an inverted plan view of the discharge or air-blast nozzle. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view, enlarged, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation in partial section and in reduced scale showing a drying vsystem embodying my improvement.

A, in the drawings, designates an open mesh woven-wire basket or container having a non-swmging bail or handle a1. To the upper rim portion of the basket is rigidly fixed a narrow light annular ring b from which a number of peripherally spaced thin inclined blades or wings b1 outwardly project. I prefer to revolubly mount the basket directly below an air-blast nozzle so that when in use the air issuing therefrom will be discharged upon the basket and its contents and at the same time impinge upon the wings to cause the basket to rapidly rotate, corresponding with the force of the discharge.

The air-blast pipe e which conducts the air from any suitable sourceof supply terminates in the discharge-nozzle N possessing some novel features. It extends downward from the pipe, e, proper in four comparatively narrow hollow divergent arms a arranged in the form of a cross, thereby producmg a corresponding number of exit passages or jets. The lower end portion of the walls w of the nozzle follow the outer contour of and are secured to a light casting or stiffening member n1 provided with a central hub n2 having an anti-friction ball-bearing P secured therein. See Figs. 4 and 5. The inner or revoluble flanged member c' of the ball-bearing has the shank end k1 of a swivel hook fixed therein, thus insuring that the connected members h and c' will rotate in unison. The said bail a1 of the basket may be bent at its upper end to form a central loop a? adapted to be readily engaged by or seated in the bight of the hook. See Figs. 1 and 5.

In Fig. G I have represented a self-contained apparatus embodying a drying system employing my improvements: that is to say, a casing C open on top is provided with a steam-heating coil having controlled inlet and outlet pipes, 0, 01, adapted to heat the coil-chamber. An exhaust blower I) is connected to the chamber, its function being to draw the heated air from the latter and force it via pipe e into and through the stationary discharge-nozzle N. If desired a` valve or gate f may be employed for controlling the outflow.

On the upper end of the casing is supported a removable pan d having a perforated bottom. Now, upon attaching the open basket A (containing say'the washed articles of jewelry) tothe hook h and opening the valve fthe heated air from the casing will be forcibly dischar ed downward from the open bottom ends org the several hollow members n and upon the basket and its contents; at the same time some of the thus discharged Patented Feb. 22, icio.-

air will impinge upon the inclined blades b1 'and cause the basket to rapidly rotate in a force acts to throw off all the remaining particles or drops of water from the articles being treated and outwardly through the Walls of the basket, ,while the heat quickly absorbs the remaining moisture. The entire operation is effected during a fraction of a minute. More or less of the spent air passes downward through the pans base into the heating chamber and becomes reheated and reused, thereby producing a continuous circulation. A counter current of heated air may at times be rising upwardly through the pan thus assisting in the drying process.

It is obvious that in lieu of the coil, blower, &c., represented inFig. 6, heated air may be conducted via pipe e1 (shownby dotted lines) from any suitable source of supply to the nozzle N and the container depending therefrom.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent 1s:-

l. The combination with a basket or container of the character described having perforated walls and adapted for axial rotation, of a plurality of spaced inclined propeller-like blades secured to and extending outwardly from the basket, for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a revoluble basket or container proper, of an annular ring member secured thereto having a plurality of peripherally spaced inclined outwardly projecting wings or blades integral therewith.

3. The combination with a relatively stationary air-blast nozzle for discharging air under pressure, of a basket or container having perforated walls revolubly mounted below said nozzle having a plurality of peripherally spaced projecting inclined blades integral therewith, constructed and arranged to be acted upon by the air-blast issuing from the nozzle torotate the basket.

4. The combination of an air-blast nozzle, a ball-bearing connected therewith, al hook member rigidly secured to and depending from the revoluble part of saidbearing, and a basket or container suspended from the hook member, said basket being provided with wings having a propeller-like form disposed so as to be acted upon when in use by y ARTHUR lV. H UTCl-HNS,

lVitnesses GEO. H. Rmrino'rox, CALVIN l-I. Brown. 

